Nicolás Arreche has been banned from play for four years by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) over match-fixing cases. While Arreche was not found guilty of successfully fixing matches, he was held liable for failing to report those approaches, thus breaching the Tennis Anti 7BALL -Corruption Program (TACP) code.
The specific rules that mandate Arachne’s punishment argue that” No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome of any other aspect of any Event.”
Once again, ITIA is investigating the offenses with a backdate, indicative of the body’s growing prowess in detecting and following up on such cases. Arreche committed the offenses between 2019 and 2019, the regulator specified.
Committed to Stopping Fraud in Tennis
For the next four years, Arreche will not be allowed to attend or participate in any sanctioned events by either a national association or the international tennis governing body. ITIA has been particularly active in recent weeks. The organization has shown a lot of commitment to tracing and cracking down on offending parties.
To this end, the Tennis Integrity Division Board decided to promote ITIA to also regulate the anti-doping program of the sport starting at the beginning of this year. In December, the organization banned six Moroccan players from play for various offenses pertaining to match-fixing.
Earlier in that month, ITIA found Mauricio Astorga guilty of also fixing games and handed him down a stiff penalty, not allowing him to play through October 2024. Tennis has seen many athletes participate in match-fixing, most of whom expected to never be caught.
However, ITIA’s list of partners continues to grow, which makes detection of aberrant behavior easier to spot. ITIA is working with both national associations as well as sports betting companies, and integrity partners, who are helping keep the sport clean.
The Austrian Tennis Association, for example, partnered with Sportradar in mid-2021. While the incidence of fraud continues to be a major issue in the sport, the tools connected to discovering such cases are also helping tackle the issues quicker and more efficiently.
